2018 Honda Clarity PLUG-IN Hybrid

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 HONDA CLARITY PLUG-IN HYBRID. WHILE DRIVING 20 MPH, ALL THE WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE CONTACT STATED THAT THE FAILURE RECURRED. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO RIGHT HONDA (7875 E FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT BLVD, SCOTTSDALE, AZ 85260, (480) 778-2440) WHERE IT WAS DIAGNOSED WITH A COMPUTER ERROR. THE VEHICLE WAS NOT REPAIRED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE AND A CASE WAS OPENED. THE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS APPROXIMATELY 1,300.

AT THE TIME OF THE OCCURRENCE THE VEHICLE HAD BEEN OWNED FOR APPROXIMATELY 90 DAYS AND HAD APPROXIMATELY 2500 MILES ON THE ODOMETER. WHEN INITIALLY STARTED IN A STATIONARY POISTION THE INFORMATION DISPLAY PROVIDED MULTIPLE APPARENTLY SPURIOUS ALARMS AND WARNINGS. THESE WARNINGS CONTINUED WHEN THE VEHICLE WAS IN MOTION. TURNING THE VEHICLER OFF AND RESTARTING THE VEHICLEWOULD NOT CLEAR THE WARNINGS. THE DISPLAY WOULD CYCLE DISPLAYING *ADAPTIVE CRUISE CONTROL PROBLEM*,*LANE DEPARTURE MITIGATION SYSTEM PROBLEM*, AND *EMMISSIONS CONTROL SYSTEM PROBLEM*. ADDTIONALLY THE BRAKE SYSTEM AND LANE DEPARTURE MITIGATION SYSTEM MALFUNCTION LIGHTS AND CHECK ENGINE LIGHT WERE ILLUMINATED THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO A DEALER WHO RESET THE CODES USING PROPRIETARY HONDA VEHICLE ANALYSIS SOFTWARE. THE WARNING AND CODES DID NOT RE-APPEAR. THE CAUSE FOR THE WARNINGS WAS NOT DETERMINED. THESE APPARENTLY SPURIOUS WARNINGS PRESENT A SAFETY CONCERN. THEY PROVIDE A DISTRACTION TO THE DRIVER WHILE CYCLING ON THE INFORMAITON DISPLAY AND COULD CAUSE A DRIVER TO IGNORE VALID WARNINGS IN THE BELIEF THEY TOO ARE SPURIOUS. THE ISSUE IS SUCH THAT IT WARRANTS MONITORING BY THE MANUFACTURER AND NTSB TO DETERMINE THE ROOT CAUSE OF THE PROBLEM AND FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENCE.

I HAVE DRIVEN THE CLARITY FOR 4 MONTHS. THIS HAS HAPPENED THREE TIMES IN HEAVY TRAFFIC WITH HONDA SENSING TURNED OFF AND NO CRUISE CONTROL. IF I AM FOLLOWING THE CAR AHEAD CLOSELY AND THE VEHICLE AHEAD SLOWS DOWN , BUT NOT ENOUGH FOR AN ACCIDENT, THE CLARITY STOPS UNNECESSARILY QUICKLY, SCARING ME AND PUTTING ME AT RISK OF GETTING HIT FROM BEHIND. IT'S SCARY. I AM VERY CAPABLE OF STOPPING THE CAR ON MY OWN AND DO NOT NEED THE CAR OVERCOMPENSATING. IF I TURN ALL THE SAFETY FEATURES OFF, I DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY THIS IS HAPPENING.

TL* THE CONTACT OWNS A 2018 HONDA CLARITY PLUG-IN HYBRID. WHILE DRIVING 60 MPH, THE VEHICLE LOST THE ABILITY TO ACCELERATE WHEN THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL WAS DEPRESSED. ALL THE WARNING INDICATORS ILLUMINATED ON THE INSTRUMENT PANEL. THE VEHICLE WAS TAKEN TO THE DEALER (NARDY HONDA, 559 MIDDLE COUNTRY ROAD, ST JAMES, NEW YORK 11780) AND THE ACCELERATOR PEDAL MODULE WAS REPLACED. THE MANUFACTURER WAS MADE AWARE OF THE FAILURE. THE APPROXIMATE FAILURE MILEAGE WAS 2,000.

VEHICLE RANGE CALCULATION IS INCORRECT FOR HIGHWAY/LONG DISTANCE TRAVEL. THE RANGE ESTIMATE SHOWS OFF EVEN WHEN FUEL LEVEL IS VERY LOW. FOR EXAMPLE, WHEN STARTING A TRIP IT MIGHT SHOW 1000 MILES RANGE. ON THE HIGHWAY, THIS WILL COUNT DOWN VERY QUICKLY, 1 MILE DRIVEN MIGHT COUNT DOWN 4 MILES OF ESTIMATED RANGE. THE PROBLEM IS THAT THIS RANGE ESTIMATE DOESN'T UPDATE QUICKLY ENOUGH TO REFLECT THAT THE PLUG-IN HYBRID VEHICLE IS DRIVING ON A LONG TRIP INSTEAD OF AROUND TOWN AND THE RANGE WON'T BE NEAR AS MUCH SINCE IT ISN'T ADDING ELECTRICITY AT HOME EVERY NIGHT. EVEN WHEN THE FUEL TANK GETS VERY LOW, LESS THAN 1 GALLON, THE ESTIMATE WILL OFTEN BE OFF BY 2 OR 3 TIMES, SO IT MIGHT SHOW 100 MILE RANGE WHEN I REALLY HAVE A 40 MILE RANGE. THIS IS DANGEROUS AS IF A DRIVER IS IN A REMOTE AREA WHERE GAS STATIONS ARE 50 MILES APART, A DRIVER MIGHT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE TO THE NEXT STATION NOT REALIZING THEY HAVE INADEQUATE GAS LEVEL.

WITH DRIVING WITH A FULLY CHARGED BATTERY DRIVING IN ECON (EV) MODE, THE INTERNAL COMBUSTION (ICE) CAME ONLINE WHEN STOPPED AT A STOP SIGN. AFTER ACCELERATING, THE ICE STOPPED RUNNING AFTER A COUPLE OF MINUTES AND THE CAR RESUMED RUNNING IN EV MODE. THIS REPEATED SEVERAL TIMES, AND NOT ALWAYS WHEN THE CAR WAS STOPPED. THIS BEHAVIOR HAS HAPPENED SEVERAL TIMES, BUT NOT ALWAYS.

I FILLED THE SEVEN GALLON GAS TANK YESTERDAY, AND THE DASHBOARD RANGE DISPLAY CALCULATED THE RANGE OF THE CAR ON GAS POWER AS 871 MILES. I HAVE BEEN DRIVEN MOSTLY ON ELECTRIC BATTERY POWER, BUT WITH ONLY SEVEN GALLONS OF GAS IN THE TANK, THAT RANGE IS ABSURD. NEW DRIVERS OF THE VEHICLES MIGHT BELIEVE THE RANGE AND INADVERTENTLY STRAND THEMSELVES SOMEWHERE.

WHEN I BOUGHT THE CAR, I HAVE A HV RANGE OF 340 MILES WITHOUT EV RANGE. SO WHEN I GET HOME I STARTED TO CHARGE MY CAR. NEXT MORNING I HAVE ENOUGH EV TO TRAVEL TO WORK BUT IS NOT ENOUGH TO MAKE TO WORK SO I HAVE TO USE SOME OF THE HV RANGE. SO I CHARGE FROM HOME AND CHARGE FROM WORK AND THAT'S MY DAILY ROUTINE. FINALLY AFTER FEW WEEKS I HAVE TO FILL UP MY TANK BUT MY HV RANGE SHOT UP TO 729 MILES. I WAS SUPRISE BUT FROM THE START I WAS HAPPY BUT REALISE LATER IS NOT TRUE. SO START WATCHING MY RANGE. WHEN I TRAVEL 60 MILES YOU CAN SEE THE HV DROP AT LEAST 160 MILES. FOR ME THAT'S A LITTLE BIT SCARY KNOWING THAT YOU DON'T KNOW HOW MANY MILES YOU HAVE LEFT EVERYTIME YOU DRIVE. THERE'S A POSSIBILITY YOU RUN OUT OF GAS. SO THE SECOND TIME I FILL UP MY CAR THE HV RANGE SHOT UP TO 952 MILES. DEALERSHIP ADVISE ME TO CHARGE THE CAR ONCE A DAY ONLY, AND ALSO SUGGESTED ALSO JUST USE THE GAS ONLY FIRST. THE HONDA CORP TOLD ME THAT'S NO PROBLEM WITH THE CAR, DON'T LOOK AT THE RANGE BUT JUST LOOK AT THE GAUGE WHICH THERE'S NO WAY YOU CAN TELL HOW MUCH GAS MILES YOU HAVE LEFT. FOR ME AND OTHER PEOPLE COMPLAINING FROM HONDA IS A SAFETY ISSUE, YOU CAN BE DRIVING AT FREEWAY AND SUDDENLY THE CAR WILL STOP BECAUSE YOU RUN OUT OF GAS.

THE HV (HYBRID VEHICLE - GAS) FUEL RANGE IS WILDLY OVERINFLATED. THE CAR HAS A 7 GALLON TANK SO IT SHOULD BE ABOUT 300 MILES ON A FULL TANK ACCORDING TO THE EPA ESTIMATE. HOWEVER, IT OFTEN SHOWS IN EXCESS OF 800 MILES. THIS IS EVENTUALLY GOING TO CAUSE SOMEONE TO RUN OUT OF GAS IN A DANGEROUS SITUATION, LIKE IN A DESERT OR OTHER REMOTE AREA. ACCORDING TO ONLINE FORUMS, THE PROBLEM SEEMS TO AFFECT EVERYONE WITH THIS MODEL OF CAR.

THE VEHICLE'S COMPUTER USES PAST DRIVING HISTORY AND FUEL STATE (AMONG POSSIBLY OTHER DATA) TO CALCULATE AN EXTIMATED HV RANGE SO THAT THE DRIVER CAN KNOW APPROXIMATELY HOW FAR THE VEHICLE CAN SAFELY TRAVEL BEFORE NEEDING TO REFUEL AND/OR RECHARGE. THIS FUNCTION IS NOT WORKING CORRECTLY ON MY VEHICLE NOR ON ANY OF THE NUMEROUS OWNER'S WHO HAVE POSTED ON INSIDEEV FORUMS IN THE CLARITY SUBSECTION. IT APPEARS TO BE A UNIVERSAL PROBLEM. IT WILDLY PRESENTS RANGES OF 100S TO 1,000S OF MILES ABOVE WHAT THE VEHICLE IS CAPABLE OF AND ONLY GETS WORSE WHENEVER MORE GAS IS PUT IN THE TANK. THIS IS A SAFETY ISSUE BECAUSE AT FIRST THE OVERSTATED PRESENTED RANGE IS STILL SOMEWHAT BELIEVABLE AND A DRIVER COULD RUN OUT OF GAS FOLLOWING IT AND FIND THEMSELVES IN A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS OR LIFE THREATENING SITUATION IF STRANDED IN BAD WEATHER. THIS IS A UNIVERSAL PROBLEM WITH ALL 2018 HONDA CLARITY PHEVS. IT'S OBVIOUSLY A SOFTWARE MISCALCULATION THAT COULD EASILY BE FIXED WITH AN UPDATE. I HOPE YOU WILL LOOK INTO THIS BEFORE IT CAUSES A TRAGEDY. IF YOU INSPECT THE OWNER'S MANUAL YOU WILL SEE THAT THERE IS A PICTURE OF THE DISPLAY ON THE DASHBOARD WITH 2,000+ MILES OF HV RANGE. SOMEHOW THIS SLIPPED BY HONDA. OBVIOUSLY NO ONE IS GOING TO BELIEVE THAT THE VEHICLE WILL GO 1,000S OF MILES BETWEEN FILLUPS/RECHARGING, BUT EARLY ON WHEN IT'S JUST OVERSTATING RANGE BY A FEW HUNDRED MILES, A DRIVER COULD BELIEVE IT AND GET STRANDED IN A POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SITUATION (EG. WEATHERWISE). THANK YOU FOR HELPING KEEP ALL OF US SAFE.